Be My Baby and Love Over and Over
by Lavender and Hay
Summary: Two shot about Ruth and Tim moving in together; another Miss Puppet rip-off.
1. Chapter 1

**This is yet another foray into the AU created by Miss Puppet in her glorious story _Woman of Yorkshire_; another one of my expansions on the epilogue, this time when Ruth and Tim decide to move in together. This is going to be a two-shot, with the rating probably going up next chapter.**

_**Be My Baby**_

"Ruth, darling, there's some news," he called, coming through the sitting room door and depositing his work bag by the settee. Increasingly he was forming a habit of coming around to Maple Cottage before going back to his own house- now it almost felt wrong not to.

She looked up a little sharply from where she was clearing up the mess of magazines, books and other papers that littered the dining table.

"Good news I hope?"

He smiled to reassure her.

"Yes, it is good news," he told her, crossing the room to where she stood still, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "Very good. We've got a buyer for my house."

"Really? Tim, that's wonderful!" she beamed, wrapping her arms tightly around his body, nestling her head happily against his chest for a second before looking up at him again to ask; "Are they serious?"

"The estate agent seemed to think so," he told her happily, "They're willing to pay the asking price at any rate, so-..."

"So it's as good as sold," she finished for him.

"Yes," he agreed, "They can have it. I can't wait to get rid of the place and find somewhere with you. Somewhere we can live together properly, if that's still what you want."

She only had to look at him; her smile radiated contentment at the suggestion.

"We will find somewhere," she told him, "Somewhere that's-..."

"Perfect," he supplied, "No need to rush."

"No," she agreed, "Not at all. We have all the time in the world."

He kissed her forehead before they broke apart.

"Will you stay for some supper?" she asked him, moving a pile of books unceremoniously onto the floor at the foot of the bookcase, "I've got some stuff for a stew, and there's far too much for me to eat by myself," moving into the kitchen, and then peering rather shyly around the door, "I was wondering if you could be tempted into staying anyway," she confessed.

"You'd have more trouble persuading me to leave than trying to get me to stay," he told her, smiling.

"There's a bottle of wine in the fridge," she informed him, then, "You could stay the night."

"I'd like that. I'm not needed at work until tomorrow evening."

"You could stay all of the day too, then," she told him, a definite glint in her eye.

"Wicked woman," he told her, following her into the kitchen, unable to resist wrapping his arms back around her, pressing her back against his chest, planting a kiss at the curve of her neck, "What would you have done if I'd said no to your voluptuous enticements?" he teased.

"Opened the wine anyway and drunk myself into a stupor, no doubt," she replied, laughing a little bit, nudging herself gently out of his arms to start getting the pans out of the cupboard.

He laughed too, before reflecting seriously;

"I could never say no to you, Ruth. Never."

She gave him a dazzling smile over her shoulder, before busying herself with the pans and ingredients again.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked.

"Not at the moment. Go into the sitting room and choose some music," she told him, "Then come back and I'll see if there's anything."

Ruth kept her CDs along the top shelf of her bookcase, because it was too close to the low ceiling to keep any books in. He realised as he started to flick through title of the albums that he had never looked through her music collection. He knew she was slightly protective of it- having been teased mercilessly over the years by Celia for her eccentric tastes- and she certainly didn't let just anyone rifle through it. There was nothing too shocking, though, he thought; some Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell , plus a few that he'd never heard of. It was all very Ruth. Then he found one thing that particularly surprised him; one thing that made him smile...

"What on earth did you put that on for?" she enquired from the kitchen door as the first beats of _The Ronettes _issued boldly from the CD player.

"What on earth do you have the _Be My Baby _single for?" he asked, grinning a little, thinking that it was just typical, really.

"Nostalgia," she replied defensively, disappearing again, the sound of chopping resuming, "And it's a good song."

"I'm not saying it's not," he told her, "It just looked a bit odd amongst all the other stuff that's there."

"And does it, or the rest of my collection not meet with your approval?" she challenged him endearingly, peering around the kitchen door and raising an eyebrow.

"You could listen to heavy metal and I wouldn't care," he told her, "Well, actually, you don't intend to start, do you?"

"Not in the immediate future. No, I do understand that," she told him, "I'm not sure that I'd really care for living with a heavy metal listener either."

He paused for a few seconds, wondering if he'd heard her rightly. Then he paced quickly into the kitchen.

"Ruth? Living with?" he repeated, slowly.

She turned from the kitchen bench.

"Yes," she replied, equally slowly, wondering what he was getting at, "Where else are you going to live once your house is sold? I just assumed that you'd want to-..."

"I did want to!" he assured her, "I do, I had hoped, only I didn't want to ask; I don't want you to feel as if you're under pressure to take me in."

"Well, as seen as I assumed you would move in-..." she broke off, putting down her knife, wiping her hands and turning rather tentatively to face him, "Tim, will you move in with me?" she asked in the most wonderful mixture of confidence and timidity that he had ever seen light her face, "Please. I know it's soon, and my mind is dreading to think of what my mother would say if she could hear me now, but it wouldn't feel right for you to go anywhere else, especially not if we're taking our time to find our own house."

He just watched her for a few seconds, the accentuated glint of life in her eyes, the slight heaviness of her breathing that her anxiety brought about, the way she was just chewing at the inside of her lip.

"My room has as much of your stuff in as it has mine already," she pointed out, more softly still.

He took her hand tightly in his, and kissed the back of it, turned it over and kissed her palm.

"Yes, Ruth, I'll move in with you," he told her just as the song came to an end.

**Please review if you have the time.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Love Over and Over**_

"Ruth."

"Hm?"

They had not spoken in a long while; they were lying beside each other in near silence, Tim behind Ruth; his arms wrapped around her body, her hands resting on top of his, his face half-buried in her beautiful, wild hair. Despite the length of time they'd been lying perfectly still like that, the afterglows of love still lingered in both their bodies. Brushing his hand gently over her hip, he coaxed her a fraction away from him so that he could sit up. She moved only reluctantly, turning over to face his side of the bed as he moved away from her, unwilling to be too far away from him.

"I've got a present for you," he told her quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed for a second and leaning to fetch it from the drawer of his bedside cabinet, "I was going to wait until we moved all of my stuff over properly, but now feels like the right time."

He got back into bed properly, their feet naturally linking back together as soon as his legs touched the mattress, slipping the small package into her fingers. It was about the size of a CD case, wrapped in pale purple tissue paper and a thin white ribbon. She held in her hands almost tenderly, looking up at him.

"Why?" she asked, unable to stop herself smiling at him. The fact was that she didn't really need an explanation, it was so typically him, she was just surprised.

"Call it another one for the collection; a house-warming gift," he told her.

"I thought you were my house-warming present," she told him, biting her lip to hold back her grin, reaching her hand out to rub softly along the side of his body, feeling the warmth of his skin under her fingertips, drawing him closer to her, "You're certainly very effective. You do know, I don't need you to buy me presents all of the time?" she asked him.

"Yes, I do. And that's probably why I wanted to buy it for you," he told her, taking her hand softly in his, lifting it to his lips and kissing her fingers, " Open it. I think you'll like it. I hope you do, anyway."

Reaching over quickly she flicked on the bedside lamp, turning back to him to remove the ribbon and the paper. It was a CD, one she didn't recognise, the cover was mainly black and white. She squinted, adjusting to the new light, to make out its name. Kate and Anna McGarrigle, it read, _Love Over and Over_. She looked up at Tim, trying to stop tears welling in her eyes.

"I didn't just buy it for what it's called," he told her, "I have heard it, I even used to have my own copy but it got lost somewhere along the line. I used to love it. But I admit, the title- there's a song called that too-... it's..."

Ruth blinked slowly. She knew what he was trying to say, and she it couldn't have been more accurate, the fact was that it was perfect. Not looking at him for a second, she brushed her finger along the corner of the CD case. She didn't know what it would sound like, a part of her didn't care. She knew she would love it, she would have to. It would probably become her favourite song.

"It's how I feel about you," she told him quietly, her heart hammering in her chest, feeling immensely bold and brave.

"Yes."

Their lips met softly, gently, pressing against each other. She put the CD down on the bedside table at her side of the bed before returning to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, feeling his hands hold her softly at her hips. Their feet had untangled, and her legs parted to rest on the outside of his, their bodies moving closer together as they kissed. His lips moved away from hers to kiss over the side of her face, her eyes, her jaw, her neck as her hands moved to rest on his shoulders.

"Tim, Tim-..." she was almost breathless with the effect that he was having on her, "I love you so much. I love you, I-..."

Her words were lost in a moan as his mouth, travelling further down her body, latched onto her nipple sucking gently as his hand caressed the other. His face nuzzled in the valley between her breasts, her hands holding him their, her legs moving further up so they encircled his waist. Locked together in their all-consuming embrace, they stayed like that for a long time, her face resting in his hair, his hands tracing patterns on her back.

"I've never loved anyone like I love you, Ruth," he told her, against her skin, "I've never wanted anyone like this; to take care of them, but also to need them too."

Guiding his face in her hand, she looked at him.

"I love you too, Tim," she told him, kissing his lips again.

He surprised her by rolling them so that she was above him, her legs still straddling his waist. Her hair falling about her face, her lips swollen and red from kissing, she smiled down at him so beautifully; half-laughing, half-moaning as she felt him move a touch beneath her, the skin of his stomach contacting delightfully with her excitement. Cautiously, slowly taking hold of his shoulders again, she moved her hips back and forth, grinding herself against him, biting her lip as her excitement grew. His hands returned to her breasts, kneading them softly but firmly; her head fell backwards in her excitement.

"Tim, now or I'll-..."

His hands took her hips, guiding her gently down onto him. She let out a deep and throaty moan as he filled her; and instantly began to move against him. He sat up, thrusting deep inside of her, taking her breasts in his hands, back into his mouth. She felt wanton, she felt decadent, she felt utterly and thoroughly loved. She could not help it, she felt beautiful when she was like this with him, when they were abandoned, moving together in perfect time. He was making her beautiful.

"Tim, I-... Oh."

Her head buried in his shoulder, as she collapsed on top of him, his arms locking around her back as his last few thrusts sent him over the edge too. Lying back, bringing her with him, both of them lay breathing heavily, neither making any attempt to recover.

Their hands had fallen together, their fingers intertwined.

He kissed her forehead, his thumb smoothing over her spine.

"You are very beautiful," he told her, "I love you."

Her head settled on his chest.

"I love you too," she told him, "A thousand times over."

**End.**

_**Love Over and Over **_**by Kate and Anna McGarrigle is rapidly becoming my favourite album. The song 'Love Over and Over' is certainly my favourite song at the moment, and I believe it is on Youtube. I will post it on my Tumblr (lavenderandhay) for anyone who is interested.**

**Please review if you have the time, I really hope you liked it.**


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